Just imagine the difference it would have made in the scope of this disaster had Obama accepted the help when it was first offered.
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Obama administration suddenly discovers the virtues of foreign assistance in Gulf
JUNE 14, 2010 BY ED MORRISSEY

What a difference a month of bad press makes! Four weeks ago, when more than a dozen nations offered to send assistance to the Gulf of Mexico to contain the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon blowout, the Obama administration blew them off. The Washington Post reports today that the White House has begun quietly backtracking, going to the EU to finally ask for some help after millions of gallons have spilled into the water:
"Four weeks after the nations worst environmental disaster, the Obama administration saw no need to accept offers of state-of-the-art skimmers, miles of boom or technical assistance from nations around the globe with experience fighting oil spills.

In the past week, the United States submitted its second request to the European Union for any specialized equipment to contain the oil now seeping onto the Gulf of Mexicos marshes and beaches, and it accepted Canadas offer of 9,842 feet of boom. The government is soliciting additional boom and skimmers from nearly two dozen countries and international organizations.

In late May, the administration accepted Mexicos offer of two skimmers and 13,779 feet of boom; a Dutch offer of three sets of Koseq sweeping arms, which attach to the sides of ships and gather oil; and eight skimming systems offered by Norway.

But some lawmakers and outside experts are questioning whether the administration has been too slow to capitalize on these offers, lulled by BPs estimates on the oil flow rate and on its capacity to cope with the aftermath of the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig."

(Wall Street Journal)- If you want to see where President Barack Obamas response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster is heading, try following the urgings of the Center for American Progress.
The liberal think tank with close White House ties appears to have more influence on spill policy than the presidents in-house advisers. On May 4, for instance, the CAPs energy and environment expert, Daniel Weiss, called on the president to name an independent commission to look at the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. On May 22, he did just that. On May 21, CAP president, John Podesta, privately implored White House officials to name someone to be the public point person for the spill response. A week later, the White House announced that Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen would hold daily briefings on the spill, wherever he would be on any given day.On May 26, Weiss said the White House needed to demand that BP immediately set up an escrow account with billions of dollars from which claims for Gulf state residents would be paid out.Mondays headlines proclaimed the presidents latest get-tough stand: BP needs to set up a billion-dollar escrow account.

I would love to see someone in the MSM have the guts to ask Obama or his minions WHY the proffered help was originally turned down. Our coastline did not have to be saturated with oil and muck and our wildlife did not have to die had this administration been able to get it's freaking act together. Surely it's not expecting too much to expect the American people to know why we turned down the help.

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